SAN DIEGO, California, November 5, 2018: The Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego and Logan Elementary celebrate the students of Logan Elementary successfully completing their first swim lesson program. Over the past four weeks, 300, 3rd – 8th graders have had the opportunity to learn to swim. Yes, these students walked .5 mile from Logan Elementary to Memorial Pool in Oct / Nov to learn to swim. This opportunity came together from the collaboration of many partners in the community. Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego funded this program while the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department provided the pool facility. The local neighborhood rallied around supporting this program in their community. In addition, it required a supportive Principal to make this idea a reality and it all started with a special 5th grader that motivated everyone to bring this idea to Logan Elementary School.
According to “Buc” Buchanan, Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego President, “Our ability to partner with local schools and teaching kids to swim in local pools EQUALS saved lives. Currently there are approx 42 schools in San Diego that are within 1 mile of a swimming pool. Only a small portion of these schools are doing this program, we can and need to do better.” Elementary Schools and Public Pool Access information
WHEN: Wednesday, November 7th @ 1-2 p.m.
WHERE: Memorial Pool, 2902 Marcy Ave, San Diego, CA 92113
SPECIAL GUESTS:
Antonio Villar – Logan Elementary Principle
Dezarey Bojorquez – 5th grader at Logan Elementary and motivator to get swim lessons at Logan Elementary
WHY: According to the CDC, Each year, about 4,000 people drown in the United States. Drowning kills more children 1-4 years of age than anything else except birth defects. Among children 1-14, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death (after motor vehicle crashes). African American children 5-19 drown in swimming pools at rates 5.5 times higher than those of whites. This disparity is greatest among those 11-12 years where African Americans drown in swimming pools at rates 10 times those of whites. These disparities might be associated with lack of basic swim skill in some minority populations.
ABOUT US: The vision of the Prevent Drowning Foundation of San Diego is to save lives by teaching every child in San Diego how to swim by funding swim lessons for underserved youth and providing aquatic safety education for all. Since 2009, our purpose has been simple, we do everything we can to prevent drowning and save lives of children by targeting under-served communities that need swim lessons and aquatic water and ocean safety education. With our local school, community and aquatic partners, we have impacted tens of thousands of young people in San Diego County and made their lives safer and more enjoyable.
